"Take a peek inside the mind of one of the masters of horror as George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead) talks about his life and work with Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan, guest curator and programmer of the Venice Film Festival."

Sounds like a blast, and I booked tickets last night. My question to members of the board though, is if they have a question time, what should I ask?

I feel like I have a responsibility to ask something on behalf of the site if I can, but wouldn't know what to ask!

So if given the chance should I ask him where Trevor's underpants are? What else might come to mind?

So went to see George A. Romero last night, and it was pretty fun. Seemed like a guy you can get along with really well: pretty modest, and seemed fairly bemused by the fact that so many people came just to hear him talk. Nothing too really mind-blowing revealed, just a really laid back kind of guy who said 'man' alot and was just happy to be able to make movies, let alone get an audience. If you want to know his favourite film, it seems that Martin has a soft spot in his heart.

The highlight truly was the question time because of how ridiculous they were. The cliff notes of questions follow:

There weren't too many questions, but alot of them were fairly nonsensical. There were a few film student types who asked questions like 'such and such movie takes a very freudian view on etc' or some point about zombies, the left and revolution. Socialist are a funny bunch. Romero really had to apologise and say that he isn't that deep and that you shouldn't read to much into it more than the really obvious stuff.

One person asked him how he finishes a scene, which is ridiculous because as a proper filmmaker you really should have that figured out before you film... DUH!

The best was a completely nonsensical question about his sans serif font and the design of all the 'Dead' series posters. Some people just don't have a clue... The design is cool and all that, but I wouldn't have thought the director had all that input into the marketing of his low budget films.

Anyways, he made a few funny remarks about how zombies should be slow and that he doesn't think about characters as black and white [as in their morality and motivations] and is more interested in 'grey' characters.

By far the best bit of information was that so many film theorists and analysts talk about how important Night of the Living Dead was in having an African American character in the lead role. He said they just cast him and it didn't matter whether he was black or white: they didn't worry about it either way and the screenplay didn't change when they cast Duane Jones, it just seemed to take on a life of it's own, since Martin Luther King was assassinated on the day they finished the film and heard the news when they loaded it into their car. Interesting tidbit!

So went to see George A. Romero last night, and it was pretty fun. Seemed like a guy you can get along with really well: pretty modest, and seemed fairly bemused by the fact that so many people came just to hear him talk. Nothing too really mind-blowing revealed, just a really laid back kind of guy who said 'man' alot and was just happy to be able to make movies, let alone get an audience. If you want to know his favourite film, it seems that Martin has a soft spot in his heart.

The highlight truly was the question time because of how ridiculous they were. The cliff notes of questions follow:

There weren't too many questions, but alot of them were fairly nonsensical. There were a few film student types who asked questions like 'such and such movie takes a very freudian view on etc' or some point about zombies, the left and revolution. Socialist are a funny bunch. Romero really had to apologise and say that he isn't that deep and that you shouldn't read to much into it more than the really obvious stuff.

One person asked him how he finishes a scene, which is ridiculous because as a proper filmmaker you really should have that figured out before you film... DUH!

The best was a completely nonsensical question about his sans serif font and the design of all the 'Dead' series posters. Some people just don't have a clue... The design is cool and all that, but I wouldn't have thought the director had all that input into the marketing of his low budget films.

Anyways, he made a few funny remarks about how zombies should be slow and that he doesn't think about characters as black and white [as in their morality and motivations] and is more interested in 'grey' characters.

By far the best bit of information was that so many film theorists and analysts talk about how important Night of the Living Dead was in having an African American character in the lead role. He said they just cast him and it didn't matter whether he was black or white: they didn't worry about it either way and the screenplay didn't change when they cast Duane Jones, it just seemed to take on a life of it's own, since Martin Luther King was assassinated on the day they finished the film and heard the news when they loaded it into their car. Interesting tidbit!

Thanks, Dean: so I gather you didn't ask him about my undies then?

Logged

As time goes by, you will seeThat we're going to be free, you and meWe'll touch the skyCan you see in your mind's eye that we are oneWe're all the same and life is just a simple game.